Construction equipment sales this year are expected to exceed 12,000 units. This makes South Korea one of the ten largest construction equipment markets in the world and the third largest in east Asia. These levels of sales are expected to continue for the next 2-3 years.

Demand in South Korea is dominated by excavators, with crawler, mini and wheeled machines accounting for more than 80 per cent of construction equipment unit sales last year. It is an unusual market in that wheeled excavators out-sell crawler machines.

Having said that, other types of construction equipment which sell in good volumes in South Korea include skid-steer loaders wheeled loaders and compressors.

Off-Highway Research forecasts that over the next five years there will be good growth in compact equipment sales. However, these will be offset to some extent by declines in excavator sales, with the market for crawler and wheeled machines above 6 tonnes having peaked.

The overall effect will be that the market stabilises around its current high level of 12,000 unit sales per year. This represents more than a 20% increase on the market size in 2012.